The Kamikaze Kids of Ground Zero

The story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is a well-told one: the United States Army Air Force dropped the Little Boy bomb on the city on the morning of 6 August 1945, the whole city was destroyed, upwards of 150,000 people died, and thanks to it, and the subsequent bombing of Nagasaki, Japan soon surrendered and a cataclysmically destructive conventional invasion of the Japanese mainland was thankfully avoided.

But while the key facts are well known, have you ever taken the time to consider what happened on the ground in Hiroshima after the bombing? We certainly have, and while doing so, we happened upon a detail most peculiar: that some of the earliest responders to the disaster were actually child kamikaze soldiers.

The 10th Training Unit

The 10th Training Unit of the Marine Training Division was a secret unit created by the Japanese Imperial Navy towards the end of World War II, when Japan’s strategic situation had well and truly collapsed and they were desperate to get their hands on anyone that could fit in a uniform as the inevitable Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland drew ever nearer—or so they believed anyway.

It was tasked with the training of soldiers for kamikaze missions, and so desperate was Japan for soldiers by that point that the 10th Training Unit’s ranks were filled by those who had signed up for the “Special Cadet Program,” which, from 1943, recruited child volunteers for the military.

We aren’t hyperbolising when we say children either, as the Special Cadet Program was only open to those between the ages of 15 and 19. It’s also worth noting that while the 10th was a kamikaze unit, not every child who signed up for the Special Cadet Program found themselves assigned that grisly task, and more often than not they were just used to plug manpower shortages in “normal” units.

And if you are wondering what type of kamikaze mission the 10th was working towards, that would be the naval variety, with them being intensively trained on so-called Maru-Re boats: tiny little one-man motorboats that had 200kg worth of explosives stuffed into their bow. These worked exactly how you are currently imagining: by ramming enemy shipping bow first—essentially being man-steered torpedoes.

You are likely considering now what on God’s earth would encourage a child to sign up and voluntarily get behind the wheel of one of those things, and luckily, we are fortunate enough to have a lot of surviving testimony that explains exactly that, the first of which comes from one Norimasa Hiratsuka, who was 18 during the atomic bombings:

“When I was 16 years old, the … Marine Training Division began to recruit special cadets. At that time, there was a feeling that Japan was in danger, and we all wanted to join up and help save the country, so I enlisted in the special cadet corps.”

An ever-increasing sense of danger as Japan’s situation deteriorated, and a corresponding increase in a sense of duty as a result, just as described by Norimasa, is the most commonly given explanation for ending up in the 10th, and indeed all other similarly tasked units. But interestingly, and much as you would likely expect, oftentimes the parents of those who signed up were absolutely distraught at the prospect of their child being sent to die for the Emperor, as explained by Takashi Matsubara, who was only 15 when Hiroshima was bombed:

“Japan was going to lose the war with the way things were going, so … I decided to apply and take the test without telling my schoolteacher or my parents. About a week later, I came home from school and my father said to me, ‘Come here!’ He said, ‘You’re our only son, aren’t you? What’s a young boy of 15 going to war for?’ He scolded me like this (often).”

But while a sense of obligation unto duty, as described by both Norimasa and Takashi, was the main reason children ended up in the 10th, it wasn’t the only reason, as some also did it after succumbing to peer pressure, as demonstrated by Shigeru Matsunaga, who was only 16 when Hiroshima was bombed:

“When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a schoolteacher because I loved children. But everyone said to me, ‘Ma-chan, be a soldier!’ They said it to me, to the teacher… ‘Ma-chan, be a soldier! A soldier!’ So, I had no choice but to say, ‘I’ll be a soldier.’”

As for how this obscure little unit of children came to be the first responders to the Hiroshima bombing, that would be due to nothing but unfortunate geographical fluke, as they were stationed on Etajima island, which is just outside of Hiroshima: far enough to be out of range of the worst of the explosion, but close enough to see it, hear it, and feel the last breaths of the shockwave, which shattered glass and knocked the frail from their feet all over the northern side of the island.

The Bombing

In a bizarre twist of fate, the boys of the 10th could count themselves as among the very few whose lives were actually saved by the atomic bombing, because on 6 August they were actually due to be shipped out and make the only attacks of their short-lived military career in the coming days.

This saw the 10th milling about on the concrete outside of their barracks in the early hours of the morning, where they were all making last-minute corrections to their uniforms in anticipation of a passing-out parade and subsequent celebration that was due to begin at 10:00am. This, naturally, meant they got a full and uninterrupted view of what happened at 08:15, as best described by the testimony of Norimasa Hiratsuka:

“On (the 6th of August), we were preparing to be deployed, that is to say, we were being inspected for battle … Once the inspection was finished, there was to be a departure ceremony. And we were to leave Konoura Bay that evening. … (Suddenly), with a flash, everything around me was illuminated.

I wasn’t sure what had happened, but when I looked towards Hiroshima, I saw the sun, directly above Hiroshima! But, that is impossible (I thought)—there can’t be two suns? I looked on in surprise as that sun began to change its colour from yellow to red, while billowing smoke rose swiftly into the sky.”

The Marine Headquarters, where the 10th were, suffered only minor damage thanks to being a little under 5km from the blast’s hypocentre, and further still, it now found itself as the closest military installation to Hiroshima that was still functional. Everything closer, such as the Hiroshima Army Clothing Depot and Ujina Army Shipping and Embarkation Centre, which stood 1.6km and 3.2km from the hypocentre respectively, had either been totally destroyed, as was the case of the former, or while still more or less standing, now had no personnel left alive to operate it, as was the case with the latter.

This also made the Marine Headquarters the centre of the military’s initial response, with it being their still functional phone lines that immediately sent word back to the Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo that some kind of enormous explosion had occurred right in the centre of Hiroshima, and in turn received orders concerning what the hell they were meant to do in response.

And deciding what was to be done didn’t take long either, as, frankly, there is only one order that can be given out in that situation: get the hell over there, assess the situation on the ground, and start aiding survivors. That order was given at 08:50, a mere 35 minutes after the Little Boy had detonated, a time sufficiently swift as to mean that the mushroom cloud was still visible and protruding 18,000 metres into the sky above the city, and that the enormous city-wide fire that it ignited was still burning fiercely.

Soon enough, the order was then relayed down to the 10th, with one Koji Kita, who was then aged only 15, remembering the moment well:

“The sergeant said … ‘get your equipment!’ We never knew when we’d be ordered to go, so we were accustomed to gathering all of our necessities and packing them into our bags. We unloaded the depth charges (from all of the Maru-Re). We were told to fit as many of us as we could onto the boats, but they were full after loading 4-5 people.”

And with all of that taking a few hours, the 10th made for Hiroshima early in the afternoon: among the first of over 4,000 that would be sent from the Marine Headquarters to the city in the coming days.

Arrival in Hiroshima

Norimasa Hiratsuka remembers his arrival into Hiroshima well:

“A team sent to investigate reported that Hiroshima had been completely destroyed. Once that team returned, the rescue parties were sent out in the afternoon. We departed … to Ujina.

We went to a military wharf and found that it was already crowded with injured people. It was such a horrific sight that one of my comrades fainted seeing it. The whole concrete wharf was painted with blood. There was crying. Everyone was sobbing and wailing. I was shocked, too, by just how far gone (they) were. I couldn’t even imagine what the city must have looked like if there were already so many injured here.”

Takashi Matsubara has similarly vivid memories of his arrival, describing them as follows:

“It was silent. Not even the sound of leaves rustling. It really was a City of the Dead. The city wasn’t alive.

But you could still hear a long, low sound. It was the sound of people, people groaning in pain. That was the sound that reached my ears. I could hear it from all around me. The sound of people suffering. That’s what it was.”

Steeling themselves for the task that lay ahead, the boys of the 10th then pushed out of the wharf and made for Hiroshima proper, or at least what was left of it, and as they pushed, they began encountering survivors in ever greater number, nearly all of whom shuffled towards them and begged for one thing: water.

And unfortunately, that also just so happened to be the one thing that the 10th couldn’t give to the survivors, as word had come down from the top that their canteens were to remain sealed, as severe burns disrupt the body’s fluid regulation due to skin damage, leading to dehydration risks and potential swelling as fluids escape into tissues.

The sound medical reasoning offered no reassurance to the boys of the 10th however, for while they didn’t doubt the logic, it didn’t stop the fact that they encountered a sea of desperate and dying survivors who came to them with but one simple request in their final moments, and had to abruptly tell them no, again and again.

For Ken’ichi Matsuzawa, a member of the 10th we haven’t met yet, who was aged 19 at the time, this, more than anything else he encountered in Hiroshima, hit him the hardest:

“Military shoes had studs on their soles, and they made a tapping sound as we walked. When people heard that sound, they clung to our feet and begged us, ‘Soldier, water, give me water.’ But we weren’t allowed to give them water. Everyone wanted water. Water, Water, Water. Crying out angrily, groaning. All I could hear was the word Water.”

Soon enough, Ken’ichi began to defy his orders, as he goes on to later explain:

”… So, if there was someone who couldn’t hold on any longer, I gave them water. Secretly, I put water in my aluminium lunch dish and handed it to them. They were so excited. They seemed so happy… Even recalling it now, I feel really sorry for them. You know, people on their deathbeds, gulping down water. It was just awful. So many people died.”

For the vast majority of the survivors in Hiroshima however, there were no soldiers they could plead with for water, and with them now being too weak to operate the old school hand water pumps that littered the city, and their accompanying modern plumbing system being totally out of action, they began to head, en masse, for the only places they believed they would be able to find water: the seven rivers that flowed through Hiroshima. This created a simply horrific scene, as more and more people who had staggered down to the rivers succumbed to their injuries, and their bodies began piling up in Hiroshima’s waterways.

Koji Kita remembered it well, and described it as follows:

“The Otagawa River was so full of bodies you couldn’t make out the surface. The unit commander shouted orders at us, ‘Hey, bring the bodies over here one by one!’ There weren’t any machines or equipment like there is today. One person could only carry one body. The bodies of people who drank water were so heavy. I can still remember it.”

From there, Koji goes on to explain what they did with the bodies they recovered: dispose of them:

“We made a pyre from some wood we took from the collapsed houses and put bodies on it. We were ordered to burn them by the sunset. But bodies full of water, they don’t burn so easily. At first, some of the young soldiers trembled with fear.”

The abject horror of this moment is explained further by Shigeru Matsunaga:

“I was scared, but I couldn’t say it out loud. It’s not like I could show any displeasure while among the dying.

You know, it was the first time for me to hold the lukewarm body of a dead person and carry them on a stretcher. It was my first time, and I was still just a kid. This wasn’t something I could just do. That said, I also couldn’t leave them there, because there were people lying in the road and on the tracks.”

As the boys of the 10th pushed even deeper into Hiroshima, and ever closer to the hypocentre, they soon began to hit the areas that had been set ablaze by the blast. So bad had this fire been in fact, that it grew into a firestorm that spanned nearly seven square kilometres of Hiroshima—and it had plenty of fuel to keep burning thanks to the wooden construction of large parts of the city. Further still, as it burnt, the firestorm drew in air at speeds approaching hurricane force, fanning the flames further and creating a self-sustaining cycle of destruction.

By the time the 10th had arrived in the city however, having taken several hours to remove the explosives from their Maru-Re boats before they pushed off, the firestorm itself had waned, having burnt through all of its fuel, although limited areas of the city would continue to burn up until the early hours of 7 August.

This naturally created a simply abhorrent scene for the child soldiers of the 10th, as described by Ken’ichi Matsuzawa:

“In these ruins, a hissing sound was coming from half-burned corpses and smoke was rising up from all around. We went on a rescue mission, but it could hardly be called that.

In any case, I was so focused on picking up the corpses. I was scared at first, but eventually I grabbed their arms and with a fellow soldier’s help loaded a corpse onto a truck. When I grabbed their arms, the skin and flesh came peeling off, and instantly it came flying at my face and clothes.

I was sickened at first, but as I continued to work, I became completely desensitized to it. I was feeling nothing. When I asked where we were going to take them, he replied, ‘we’re going up to the top of Hijiyama Hill and drop them into the valley. Then, we’ll douse them in fuel oil. Most should be ash by tomorrow morning.’ That’s the kind of conversation we had. Like something out of a picture of hell. The fact that I could become unaffected by something so cruel, so atrocious and frightening…”

Ken’ichi couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence; but there was no need for him to. The scene that he had found himself in, as he said himself, was one that ought to only be found amidst the flames of Hades, and there he was, barely a man at 19 years old, having to steel himself and do the little that he was able to remedy it.

Later Experiences

Come the evening of the 6th, all of the few military assets that could be spared from the local area had been sent to Hiroshima, and the authorities were beginning to get a handle on the situation; or as much as they could anyway. The Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital for example, which sat 1.6 kilometres from the hypocentre, had survived the blast; or at least its structure had—with its innards, equipment, and staff all having been absolutely devastated. But still it soldiered on, with the Japanese Red Cross and military both sending what staff and supplies they could spare, and when they ran short, which they did very quickly, they were supplemented by anyone with even a cursory medical knowledge improvising bandages out of bedsheets, and splints out of whatever timber could be found lying around.

The child soldiers of the 10th naturally remained on the scene and continued to make themselves useful as this more organised, but still very much nascent, relief effort began, and it’s safe to say that the situation didn’t exactly get any more chipper for them, as Miyoshi Nishihara, another one of the boys we have yet to meet, who was aged 19 at the time, made perfectly clear in his recollections:

“It was about 5:00 a.m. on the morning of the 8th, sometime around dawn. There was this boy I lost sight of. I still regret not being able to help him. It left the deepest impression on me and there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think of him.

In this one spot, there was a woman lying on the ground and a boy of 4 or 5 years old was slumped over her. I was going to place her corpse on the stretcher and load it onto a passing boat. Just then, a boat happened to be coming from upstream, and the people on it were in a frenzy, with everyone telling us to hurry up, hurry up.

The child… There was no way he could have known his mother was dead, but I went ahead and loaded her body onto the boat without letting him know what was happening. Without shedding a single tear, that boy screamed with all his might, ‘Mommy! Mommy!’ and begged, ‘Soldiers, please take me too!’

There still weren’t any people moving around in that area at the time, so I told him that I’d be back in a bit and asked him to stay there. But when I came back about 15 minutes later, he was gone. I looked for him in that area for as long as I could, maybe 20 minutes.

Since he wasn’t there, I could only go back to work, but… after seeing off the boat carrying his mother, he might have been washed out to sea since it was almost high tide.”

Scenes like this continued to play out throughout Hiroshima, as a second wave of death began to sweep over the city as the effects of acute radiation poisoning began to set in on a vast scale, and the boys of the 10th were there for it all. So extreme was the continued scale of death in fact, that for several weeks, the city would be lit by a pervasive blue glow of a night, as the mass burning of human remains, and the phosphorus within their bones, added a distinct blue hue to the pyres that burned all over.

Reflections

You are likely wondering what effects enduring all of this had on the psyche of the young boys of the 10th, particularly the more gung-ho ones, who but days prior had been only too willing to throw their lives away for the Emperor.

Well, fortunately, we have pertinent testimony from exactly one such boy, specifically one Nobuo Ito, who was only 17 at the time of the bombing, and on the matter, he said the following:

“I spoke up: ‘Unit Commander Nakamura … I must admit, I think we should stop fighting the war. This is hopeless’ (I said).

He was furious. ‘What are you talking about? How can a soldier who’s about to fight in the battle for the mainland show such weakness?’

But I thought to myself, what was the meaning of war if these Japanese people who were killed like this had no sin or blame? And (then) I wondered what all of this could mean. I wondered who was to blame for all of this.

Then, as I walked through the streets of Hiroshima, my next thought was of my hometown, Tono in Iwate Prefecture. I wondered how my parents were doing, and what they would think if they knew I was walking through fire at that moment.

Did they know? No, they couldn’t have. When I thought of the fact that I was walking there, I couldn’t even begin to accept it. That’s what I was thinking as I thought about my parents, my siblings, my hometown. I thought, ‘Oh, I’m walking through such an insufferable place!’”

While the minutiae of their opinions varied, Nobuo’s is very much reflective of the overall sentiment: their will to fight was utterly broken, and from then on, they just wanted that infernal war to end as soon as possible, and for themselves to still be alive at the end of it.

Conclusion

Thankfully, many of them managed to do exactly that, with most of the boys from the 10th making it to a ripe old age. Many of them are still alive in fact, despite the war having ended nearly 80 years ago, with everyone quoted here either still being alive, or only having passed very, very recently; and naturally—this is in no small part due to just how young they were at the time.

It is also only right that we give some credit to the source of these extensive quotes. This article was inspired by a recent visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which, having interviewed all of the surviving members of the 10th, is currently running a special exhibit on their experiences—with all of our quotes having been drawn from said exhibit’s publicly published materials.

It’s free to enter, and if you happen to be in Japan, we firmly recommend a trip to see the exhibit, and indeed the memorial more broadly, for yourself. It’s an experience we struggle to even begin to put into words; but it’s one you’ll be very glad you did while you had the chance.

Key Takeaways

• The 10th Training Unit was a secret Japanese Imperial Navy kamikaze unit composed of child soldiers aged 15-19 recruited through the Special Cadet Program.
• These child soldiers became first responders to the Hiroshima bombing because their base on Etajima Island was close enough to see the blast but far enough to survive.
• The boys witnessed horrific scenes including rivers full of bodies, survivors begging for water they were forbidden to give, and corpses whose skin peeled off when touched.
• The experience shattered their will to fight; many who had eagerly volunteered for suicide missions now desperately wanted the war to end and to survive.
• Most of the 10th Training Unit survived to old age, and their testimonies are featured in a special exhibit at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the 10th Training Unit and what was its purpose?

The 10th Training Unit of the Marine Training Division was a secret unit created by the Japanese Imperial Navy towards the end of World War II. It was tasked with training soldiers for kamikaze missions, specifically using Maru-Re boats—tiny one-man motorboats with 200kg of explosives in their bow that would ram enemy shipping.

How old were the child soldiers in the 10th Training Unit?

The 10th Training Unit’s ranks were filled by those who had signed up for the ‘Special Cadet Program,’ which recruited child volunteers between the ages of 15 and 19.

Why did children volunteer for the Special Cadet Program and the 10th Training Unit?

The most commonly given explanation was an ever-increasing sense of danger as Japan’s situation deteriorated and a corresponding sense of duty to help save the country. Some also joined due to peer pressure. Norimasa Hiratsuka stated: ‘At that time, there was a feeling that Japan was in danger, and we all wanted to join up and help save the country.‘

How did the atomic bombing of Hiroshima actually save the lives of the 10th Training Unit members?

On August 6, 1945, the boys of the 10th were due to be shipped out in the coming days to make kamikaze attacks. They were milling about outside their barracks preparing for a passing out parade when the bomb detonated at 08:15am. Because they were stationed on Etajima island, about 5km from the blast’s hypocentre, they suffered only minor damage and survived.

What orders were given to the 10th Training Unit after the bombing, and how quickly?

At 08:50am, just 35 minutes after the Little Boy detonated, the order was given to get to Hiroshima, assess the situation on the ground, and start aiding survivors. The order was relayed to the 10th, who spent a few hours unloading depth charges from their Maru-Re boats before departing for Hiroshima early in the afternoon.

Why were the 10th Training Unit members forbidden from giving water to survivors, and what happened?

They were forbidden from giving water because severe burns disrupt the body’s fluid regulation due to skin damage, leading to dehydration risks and potential swelling as fluids escape into tissues. However, Ken’ichi Matsuzawa began secretly defying these orders, putting water in his aluminium lunch dish and handing it to dying survivors who begged for water.

What did the 10th Training Unit members do with the bodies they recovered from the rivers?

They made pyres from wood taken from collapsed houses, placed bodies on them, and were ordered to burn them by sunset. Koji Kita explained: ‘We made a pyre from some wood we took from the collapsed houses and put bodies on it. We were ordered to burn them by the sunset. But bodies full of water, they don’t burn so easily.’ Some bodies were also taken to Hijiyama Hill and dropped into valleys to be doused in fuel oil.

How did the experience of witnessing Hiroshima affect the will to fight among the 10th Training Unit members?

Their will to fight was utterly broken. Nobuo Ito, who was 17 at the time, spoke to his unit commander saying ‘I think we should stop fighting the war. This is hopeless.’ He wondered ‘what was the meaning of war if these Japanese people who were killed like this had no sin or blame?’ The overall sentiment was that from then on, they just wanted the war to end as soon as possible and to still be alive at the end of it.

What was the ‘pervasive blue glow’ seen in Hiroshima at night for several weeks after the bombing?

The city was lit by a pervasive blue glow at night for several weeks due to the mass burning of human remains. The phosphorous within their bones added a distinct blue hue to the pyres that burned all over the city.

Where did the extensive quotes in the article come from?

All quotes were drawn from the publicly published materials of a special exhibit currently running at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which interviewed all of the surviving members of the 10th Training Unit. The museum also provided a link to their exhibition video: https://www.hiro-tsuitokinenkan.go.jp/video/exhibition_2024/index.html

Sources

• Original Into the Shadows video: The Kamikaze Kids of Ground Zero
• Hero image source by Andrey Korchagin from St. Petersburg, Russia / openverse, by-sa.

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